With no protector in sight, Sindhi Hindus mull migration

The mysterious disappearance of two Hindu businessmen from Mirpurkhas, home to over 90 percent of Pakistan’s three million Hindu citizens, has sparked not just fear among the community but discussions over whether to leave Pakistan for good.
The two traders – Suresh Kumar and Dr Keshoo Mal – disappeared on June 16 and 17 respectively. Kumar used to run a small general store in Patoyun Town while Dr Keshoo Mal was a veterinary doctor by training but owned an oil mill in the area. Complaints were lodged with the police, but there have been no answers thus far. Locals believe their disappearances and subsequent lack of answers from the police means that law enforcement agencies’ personnel are somehow involved.
“We have been living in this district since our forefathers, and never before did such incidents take place. But now, living here is becoming tough,” said Dr Tulsi Das, Suresh Kumar’s uncle. “No one has thus far contacted us for ransom demands. We also tried to ask law enforcement agencies, but there are no clues to his disappearance.”
Dr Keshoo Mal, kidnapped in broad daylight, was a resident of Thano Boola Khan in District Jamshoro. Like many other Hindus, he too had started a business in Mirpurkhas because of the comfort element.
“It is very surprising for us, as we never thought that Hindus will now be kidnapped from peaceful districts like Mirpurkhas. We are very afraid of such happenings,” said Peso Mal, cousin of Dr Kashoo Mal.
Sant Ladha Ram, a religious leader of the Hindu community and president of the Sant Sada Ram Foundation (SSRF), told Pakistan Today that alarm bells have begun to rung because while petty crime and extortion were common, kidnappings and mysterious disappearances – believed by many to be at the hands of law enforcement agencies’ personnel – had witnessed a sharp increase in the recent past.
“Kidnappings and mysterious disappearances is a huge matter, and is a new phenomenon in Mirpurkhas. But its effects are far-ranging: fear has also spread among Hindu citizens in Sanghar, Umerkot, and Tharparkar, and many are seriously giving a thought to migrating,” Ram said.
Fed up of unabated incidents of kidnappings and other crimes, several families from Balochistan and Kyber-Pakhtoonkhwa have already migrated to India, Nepal, Canada, United States and other countries. In Sindh, this was not the trend till some two years ago. Mirpurkhas was considered “native land” by Pakistani Hindus since nowhere in a predominantly Muslim country were as many Hindu citizens settled in one place. While kidnapping-for-ransom of Hindu businessmen and kidnapping of Hindu girls in Sindh is not a new phenomenon – around 20 Hindu girls are abducted every month in Sindh and forced to convert, according to Amarnath Motumal, an advocate and council member of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, these incidents usually took place in northern districts of the province. Mirpurkhas was largely spared of these incidents till now.
As per the data of the 1998 national census, Hindus are the largest religious minority in Pakistan. Of the 3 million Hindus, 95 percent of them live in different districts of Sindh, including Mirpurkhas, Sanghar, Umerkot and Tharparkar (Mithi). Most of these Hindus are so-called lower caste Hindus, and work as landless peasants. Most cases of bonded labour or forced labour by Muslim landlord were reported in these districts in the past.
Despite being in majority in these districts, rarely any low-caste Hindu from these districts is selected for assembly seats by political parties. Even the ruling Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has selected all five Hindu members from upper castes; interestingly, there are three Hindu ministers in Sindh but two of them are cousins and belong to the same town in Dstrict Jamshoro. The only Hindu politician from Umerkot district, Dr Khatumal Jeevan was selected as a PPP senator, but within four months, the PPP leadership forced him to resign.
“It [kidnappings and mysterious disappearance of Hindus] is nothing but a conspiracy against minorities. The government knows everything but never comes forward to protect Hindus from such incidents. It is better to migrate,” said Pakistan Hindu Foundation President (PHF) D.M Maharaj.